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The Irish Times reports that major polluters will
be forced to pay millions in clean-up costs in addition to
existing penalties under tough new legislation to be introduced
next year.
The measures in the Environmental Liability Bill are
now needed to bring Ireland into line with EU law.
Once in place, the new legislation would mean that the entire
cost of bringing an area "back to how it was before it
was damaged" would have to be met by the offending landowner,
company or farmer.
Currently, offenders can be fined up to €10 million. In May,
a record €1m fine was given to John Healy, from Blessington,
Co Wicklow for illegal dumping near the Blessington reservoir
(Click
Here).
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government,
John Gormley TD is now to hold a final round of consultations
before drafting begins in the autumn.
The taxpayer will face a bill that could run into the tens
of millions to clean up the Haulbowline Irish Steel/Ispat
site in Cork following decades of steel-making (Click
Here).
However, Mr Gormley intends to grant exemptions where the
polluters were complying with State regulations. Liability
would not fall on a company or individual if the action was
not considered likely to cause damage at the time it occurred.
The spreading of sewage sludge is also to be exempted, the
Department said last year.
The introduction of the new legislation will not stiffen
the EU's existing and frequently controversial birds and habitats
directives, which are increasingly unpopular in the west of
Ireland.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) has
urged the Government to implement the EU law in a "balanced,
reasonable and predictable" manner. Ibec's Donal Buckley said
that over 700 industrial sites licensed by the Environmental
Protection Agency followed the liability rules. "These plants
have performed exceptionally well in meeting and exceeding
their environmental responsibilities and should receive due
recognition for this success" - he told The Irish Times.
Most European countries failed to meet the 30 April 2007
deadline to bring the EU Liability Directive
- the first European law based on the 'polluter pays'
principle - into their own national law.
The directive obliges companies which caused land contamination
that 'creates a significant risk to human health',
water pollution or damage to habitats, to pay for the clean-up
and for restoring the habitats to their original state.
Those found guilty of breaches will have to pay for cleaning
up contaminated land until it no longer poses a serious health
risk and for restoring the environment 'to how it was before
it was damaged'.
Source - The Irish Times
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